The year was 1989 and my dad brought home a PC from work for us to use. We played Spacewars and basked in the orange glow of the monitor. Since then, I’ve always had a PC. From DOS to Windows 3.1 to XP I’ve always been a slave to Microsoft. I know it inside and out, I can troubleshoot with my hands behind my back, my eyes blindfolded and my legs crossed. Well, thanks to some unexpected fundage that was solely allocated to such things, I made the switch and am the proud owner of a 13.3 inch Macbook. John and Steve Jobs have won.
Yes, that’s the kitchen behind me in the photo. My frankenbox PC is taking up my workspace right now and the other desk-type furniture we have is occupied by John publishing the latest podcast episode. Although I supposed with a laptop I could be sitting anywhere in the house, really.
There will be a learning curve and everything isn’t as tikety-boo as it should be right now but I’ll be good to go soon enough, making blog posts from around the city and staying connected, as I should be. Hopefully this will help further my career path and pay for itself in the long run…
Update: John just showed me this on the Onion, too funny. I think I’m going to love this.
“In 1984, Apple introduced the Mac,” Jobs said to an overflowing crowd as an image of the first Macintosh computer was displayed on a giant screen behind him. “We changed the face of the music industry with the first iPod in 2001. And in January, we showed off the revolutionary new iPhone. Today, Apple is releasing a piece of innovative new technology that will forever change the way innovative new technology is released.” [TheOnion]
I’ve learned a thing or two in the last couple of days that may seem completely automatic for any other Canadian, and for this I apologize.
The first being the origin of the word “hoser”, which is a commonly used Canadian slang term, similar to calling someone a “loser”, popularized by Bob and Doug of The Great White North [wiki].
Thanks to this post by fellow Crazy Canuck, Alanah over at Canucks and Beyond, John got to the bottom of the term.
“Alternatively, the term may originate as a variation of “loserâ€; in amateur games of hockey the losing team would have to “hose down†the rink, resurface the ice with a water hose.” [wiki]
It’s the last explanation that I’m sticking with for now. I mean, the rest of it makes sense, but relating it back to hockey works for me. [audihertz]
Second, is something I learned while watching Hockey: A People’s History, and I just haven’t applied it to anything until this morning listening to the radio while getting ready for work. During the series on CBC, they mentioned Bill Barilko and a curse that plagued the Maple Leafs for several years [FiftyMissionCap Blog].
…On August 26, he joined his dentist, Henry Hudson, on a flight aboard Hudson’s Fairchild 24 floatplane to northern Quebec en route to a fishing trip. On the return trip, the single-engine plane disappeared and its passengers remained missing despite a massive search. On June 7, 1962 a helicopter pilot discovered the wreckage of the plane about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Cochrane.
Notably, the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup that year, after not winning it at all during the eleven years that he was missing. The Tragically Hip‘s song “Fifty Mission Cap” (from their 1992 album Fully Completely) prominently features Barilko’s tragic story and the absence of the Leafs victory until the year he was found [wiki]
As a good Canadian, I should be able to interpret any lyric written by Gord Downie, but at least now I know, and knowing is half the battle.
This episode was recorded on the fly while I was packing for Victoria… so I rambled… a lot.
[John] ran around the apartment with my minidisc and microphone to record this one. Rebecca was preparing to head over to the island for the weekend with some of her family(girls only), so I followed her around while spouting off about various topics. I tore into a can of Guinness to find out what those things they put in there look like, we give our review on the Northern Voice conference that occurred last weekend, and give a roundup to the Vancouver Podcast Meetup that Mark Blevis, of the Canadian Podcast Buffet, put together last Sunday. Other hilarities included.
Run time, 55 mins. Visit the site for Episode #128 show notes, links, mp3 and all that good stuff.
We celebrated the Canucks’ win on Sunday with good friend of ours in North Vancouver. While enjoying tonight’s victory, I sported my fancy new Johnny Canuck t-shirt (below) that was supplied by said friends.
Want your own? Details are pending, stay tuned.
We watch A-Channel during the week sometimes, while cooking dinner and playing along with Jeopardy. We do so mostly because their weather guy, Bruce Williams, comes on with “Watch and Win”. A call-in contest where you can win anything from gift certificates to Canucks tickets.
This past Saturday A-Channel opened its doors from 11am to 4pm and had a general open house for the public. Now, I’ve had my share of tours and the CBC tour from last weekend was still fresh in my mind, but man – was this ever a cute lil station.
A-Channel is a part of the Chum group, along with the likes of CityTV and Much Music. It’s got that “behind the scenes” look to its newscast and the building is nothing like the concrete bunker that is the CBC. It’s a converted warehouse with neat little nooks n crannies. For example, there are “hydrants” in various places along the walls. They look like water pipes for firefighters to tap into but they’re loaded with connectors and plugs in case the wireless on your laptop craps out in the middle of a broadcast and you need to get a connection.
The first stop on the tour was a little station where guests could sit at a news desk and read a teleprompter. One brave guy sat up there and read, and about 4 minutes later they handed him a DVD of his performance.
We meandered through marketing and editing suites, then down to the audio room. We got autographs from Bruce Williams then had a chat with Hudson Mack – the news anchor.
In another room there was a green screen set up by the creative teams. They asked for volunteers then played clips of stock footage behind them as the crowd participant danced around in front of the green screen. The results were displayed on the TV and were quit funny. The best was when we were in the main room, getting a speech on mass media and journalistic integrity from Hudson Mack, but all the TVs in the room were displaying a little kid dancing around in front of the green screen – flying with geese and swimming in the water with Jaws. It was REALLY hard to keep a straight face.
After the tour we were all given a ticket for a free hot dog, pop and chips. On top of that, we were loaded with swag: stickers, little foam microphones, thundersticks and balloons. The staff were so hospitable and the on-air talent were really down to earth.
All I could think about in that audio booth with the sound guy was, “I bet John could get a job doing this kinda thing.” But I don’t think we’re ready to be moving out of town any time soon.
